Wanderer of Time: Silence Begins (doctor who)

Chapter 41: Of Lost Farewells

So, soon after the Doctor got over his awe, he rapidly began to wonder aloud of what could possibly be interfering with both his and Wanda's screwdrivers. He started to ask the room to what was different, what had changed that could ever manage to mess with the sonics. To which then Wanda was the one to point it out.

"Look up," she said, pointing at the skylight above them. All gazed upwards, seeing the moonrise overhead.

"Tell me about the moon. What's there?" the Doctor asked Lux.

"It's not real," Lux explained. "It was built as part of the Library. It's just a Doctor Moon."

"What's a Doctor Moon?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"A virus checker," Lux answered. "It supports and maintains the main computer at the core of the planet."

"Well, it's still active," the Doctor noted. His sonic buzzed loudly as he aimed it at the moon. "It's signaling. Look. Someone, somewhere, in this library is alive and communicating with the moon. Or possibly alive and drying their hair." He listened to his sonic closely, holding it at his ear. "No, the signal is definitely coming from the moon. I'm blocking it, but it's trying to break through."

He tried breaking the signal, working to access whatever the Doctor Moon was communicating to the planet's data core. The sonic suddenly projected an image of Donna across the room from him. They could see her wearing different clothing than what she had been before, and she stared at the Doctor with wide eyes. She gasped out then disappeared completely.

"That was her. That was your friend," River remarked, astonished by the sight that had occurred before them.

"Yep, I told you. She's saved," Wanda told the room. She looked at the Doctor. "We'll get her back. Don't worry." Her gazed shifted over to Anita as the Doctor rushed to find the wavelength of the moon, trying to bring the image of Donna back. Even though Wanda said Donna was fine, he still seemed determined to try and find her again. Glancing over, Wanda winced as she saw Anita staring in fright down at her feet. She saw the tears slowly running down Anita's face. Wanda slowly walked over to Anita, feeling another wave of remorse for another poor soul, and another wave of guilt coursing through her.

"Oh, Anita, I'm so sorry," Wanda whispered to the woman. Anita appeared to be very terrified, but kept a strong and brave face.

"It's fine," she whispered to Wanda.

"No. No, it's not fine. We should have been paying attention to you," Wanda replied softly. "Where's your helmet?" Anita nodded to it at her feet. Wanda bent down, grabbing it.

"It didn't do Proper Dave any good," Anita said softly.

"I know. But we have to try." Wanda placed the woman's helmet on gently. Anita sucked in a small breath, trying not to cry out loud but still having a few tears running down her face. River only then noticed what the two women were doing.

"Wanda, Anita, what's wrong?" River asked them.

"I've . . . I've got two shadows," responded Anita. Everyone jumped back from her, except for Wanda who remained standing in front of the woman for comfort. All the archaeologists quickly put back on their helmets.

"Here, this will help," Wanda stated as she tinted Anita's visor with her sonic screwdriver. "There. It'll trick the Vashta Nerada for the time being. But for now . . . we need to run."

"Why's that?" questioned River.

"Because now, there are seven people standing in this room," Wanda said evenly. They all turned, seeing the suit of Proper Dave standing right behind them.